


Four Meetings

by stellacanta



Series: to convene with the gods [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Gen, fall of insomnia fixit, seer cor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-01
Updated: 2019-07-20
Packaged: 2020-02-15 21:39:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18677860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stellacanta/pseuds/stellacanta
Summary: Cor woke up one day with a terrible dream, no, a vision, of things to come. In it, he saw King Regis and Clarus die and Insomnia fall. He saw Prince Noctis break down and grieve over the loss of his father, his only remaining family.Since he was given warning about what would happen, and the specific details of what lead to things, he might as well try to change everything. Right?





	1. Luna

The three of the, King Regis, Clarus, and Cor, were standing in a private audience chamber just off to the throne room. Cor stared evenly back as the king all but glared at him. (He hadn’t been phased by the king, then prince’s, glare since he was fifteen, and, even then, it hadn’t phased him all that much.) “Could you care to repeat that Cor?”

“There’s a traitor in the kingsglaive and he’s plotting Insomnia’s downfall,” he replied back evenly.

Standing between them, Clarus looked at Cor and then towards the king and then back to Cor. “Yes, you’ve said that,” the shield said in as calm a tone as he could manage. “What I would like to know is how you came by this information? Do you know the identity of the traitor?”

Cor gave his most unimpressed look at Clarus. “You saw me summon Ramuh to the courtyard and you still want to know how I came by this information?”

He got a wry smile in return. “Point made.”

“Nonetheless,” King Regis interrupted smoothly with a sigh. “The warning about the peace treaty is all well and good, but what would you have us do about it?” Clarus raised an eyebrow and glanced at the king before looking back towards Cor. “If there is indeed a traitor in the kingsglaive, we can’t simply refuse the peace treaty and deploy the kingsglaive to deal with the enemy as we see fit. Do you have a plan for what must be done?” The king placed his cane in front of him with a soft thud and rested both hands upon its hilt.

Cor smirked and walked closer towards the two, gesturing for them to huddle up. “As a matter of fact I do, now gentlemen, if you’ll come around here so we can discuss this away from prying ears-“

…

Cor had made a bit of a reputation for himself as something of a hot-headed loner who was prone on going on his own side trips. The fight against Gilgamesh that he was lucky to walk away alive from being the most well known of these excursions. (It was also the one that had given him the moniker that only served to remind him about how foolish he had been in his youth.)

He had grown more cool-headed since his youth, but there was still the odd excursion or two behind enemy lines. Sometimes for intel no one else had the guts to get, other times just because he could. This too would probably be shrugged off as one of those excursions. He pulled up to Galdin Quay on his bike early one morning, nodded to the ferry attendant, and hopped on the earliest ferry to Altissia.

Once, it had been possible to travel directly to Tenebrae from Lucis. It had been a time before the death of Sylvia Nox Fleuret, when relations between Tenebrae and Lucis were still somewhat friendly. With the former oracle’s dead, the relationship had soured and the only way to get to the imperial territory was by boat, or plane, from Altissia.

Either way, it was going to be a long trip. A long and rather _boring_ trip if he had nothing to do. Cor opened the newspaper he had picked up along the way and began to read.

…

Luna, who had been in the middle of arranging some flowers in her room, startled when Gentiana appeared suddenly and approached her. “The messenger apologizes for disturbing the oracle so,” the divine messenger spoke, her eyes closed. “A wandering warrior approaches the oracle with a message, and an offer if she shall so take it.”

“An offer?”  She placed the flower stalk she had been holding onto into the vase and looked towards Gentiana with confused eyes. “What kind of offer, Gentiana?”

The dark-haired woman nodded. “An offer the oracle would be wise to consider.” She opened her eyes and stared straight at Luna with a wry grin. “An offer to be with her beloved prince if she so chooses.”

Luna was glad she had placed the flower back in the vase. If she hadn’t she would have surely dropped it onto the ground to be trampled by stray feet. She gripped the edge of the table the vase rested on. “Noctis? I can leave this place and go to Noctis?”

Gentiana nodded and gestured towards the door when someone knocked on it, calling for her. “The oracle should listen to what the wandering warrior has to say.”

Luna cocked her head, suddenly wondering who this wandering warrior could be (someone from Lucis, maybe someone close to the royal family?) before she nodded and brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “I’ll be there in a minute,” she called out to whoever was knocking. The person, a servant most likely, gave an affirmative glance back and she walked to her closet. It was getting cold. She had a feeling she would need a jacket soon.

…

Cor blew over a delicate porcelain cup filled with hot tea before he took a sip. He quickly set the cup down and hissed when the hot tea touched his tongue. Blowing over it hadn’t done much to cool it down. He crossed his arms and stared at the opposite wall, ignoring the elaborate grandfather clock ticking away the seconds in one corner of the sitting room he had been led to.

Sunlight streamed through large floor to ceiling windows and the delicate tea cakes lay untouched on equally delicate china plates. He could appreciate the hospitality, but he wasn’t here for tea. The sound of deliberate footsteps broke his thought and he looked up to see one Lunafreya Nox Fleuret, the current oracle, walking towards him. He grinned. Finally, the lady he had come to see had arrived.

Cor uncrossed his arms and rose, inclining his head slightly when the princess stepped into the room and then offering her a hand. She clasped it within her own. “Marshal,” she greeted, eyes shining with delight. “What a pleasure it is to see you here.”

Lunafreya released his hand and gestured towards his seat. The two of them sat down and she picked up the teacup and saucer set aside for her to take a sip of the tea before choosing a teacake topped with pale pink petals to place on her plate. The smile on her face dropped a bit when Cor did not immediately return the greeting. “You did come here for pleasure did you not?” Her eyes narrowed in worry when Cor took a deep breath to prepare himself for how he would explain matters to her. “Is this about Prince Noctis? Has something happened to him?”

“The prince is fine,” he said to settle her worries about her childhood friend. The princess visibly deflated and nodded, taking another sip of tea before looking at him as a clear signal to go on. “I was just, um-“ He looked away and rubbed his arm underneath the table before giving an annoyed sigh and looking towards the princess with a rueful grin. “Tenebrae is quite nice at this time of year isn’t it?”

The princess was visibly confused by the changed of topic. She was also very good at hiding it behind one arched eyebrow and a nibble of her teacake. “Yes, the gardens are filled with blossoming flowers and the fields are filled with sylleblossoms.” She continued to stare at him with one eyebrow raised as if she could gauge his reasons for being here by just staring at him. “I could take you to see them, marshal, if that’s why you’re here.”

“Well, no, I was-“ He shook his head to cut himself off. Tact, he told himself. He must handle this with tact and grace. (Not that he was very good at the later, but well there was a time to learn everything right?) “-Altissia is also a nice this time of year.” He slid a pair of tickets across the table to the princess. One was for the train and the other was for a ferry that would take her to Altissia. “The sylleblossoms of Tenebrae are quite famous, but perhaps you’d like to see flowers from another land for a change.”

“Oh.” Lunafreya calmly picked up the tickets and read the neat print on them. Cor hid his grin behind his teacup when he saw realization cross her face. “Oh!” She looked at him. “Are you inviting me to Altissia, marshal?” Her tone was cultured and deceptively even, Cor could tell from the way that she stared at him that she got his message and was choosing her words carefully.

Cor paused a bit before he nodded. “You’ve been in Tenebrae for a while now, it might do you good to have a change of scenery.”

The princess’ lips twitched in a hint of a smile and she lightly tapped the pair of tickets against her upper lip. “Indeed, it might.”

…

Luna left for Altissia early the next morning, her brother having caught word of the rather impromptu trip too late to stop it. She did not stay in Altissia for long, long enough to take a few pictures and seek out a few of those afflicted by the starscourge. By nightfall, she was stepping off the ferry in Galdin Quay.

She grinned when she noticed Cor waiting for her by the pier. Their eyes met as she approached him and within minutes she was safely ensconced in a car on her way to Insomnia.


	2. Libtertus

_“Hey Shiva. I hate to ask this of you, but I know you’re able to take the forms of other beings. I know it’s something that you don’t do often, but do you think you could take the form of Princess Lunafreya and head to Tenebrae? Her brother is getting a little antsy about how long her trip to Altissia is taking.”_

_“Oh, dear seer, I would be delighted to take on the guise of the oracle.”_

_“Thanks Shiva. You were always my favorite.”_

…

Lib didn’t blink when he heard someone pull up a stool next to him and the soft thud of a pint glass being placed on the polished hardwood counter. This wasn’t his usual bar that he went to with Crowe and Nyx and the rest, but sometimes, when he just wanted some time alone to think, he would head to the bar a few blocks from where he lived. It was a dingy, run-down place, but the food was good, or as good as Lucian food could get, and no one tried to talk to him.

The single TV in the entire place, put up on a high shelf so that anyone could see it, was currently displaying the news. He listened half-heartedly as the newscaster described how Princess Lunafreya was returned safely to her brother that morning as if her brother hadn’t threatened to cause a diplomatic incident over an impromptu trip to Altissia.

Frankly, Lib couldn’t give a fuck about missing foreign princesses and foreign princes throwing a hissy fit over said disappearance. If the princess wanted a nice vacation for herself like the rest of them plebs, then she should be able to take one. He drank a large mouthful of beer and his face twisted into a look of disgust when the news reporter started talking about the treaty offer by Niflheim. Ah, that.

“Not happy to hear that are you,” a gruff voice to his side asked suddenly. He grunted. Apparently, whoever was sitting besides him was a newcomer to the bar and didn’t hear about the unspoken rule to let a man sulk about bad news in silence. “You want to talk about it?”

“Nothing to talk about,” he said as he slammed his pint to the counter with more force than necessary. The bartender paused in whatever he was doing to give him a look and he lifted the corner of his mouth in an unspoken apology. “It’s a bad deal. If the king had any sense in him, he would reject it.”

“If the Nifs keep up their end though, it would mean an end to the fighting and guarantee the safety of the people of Insomnia.”

“Oh, the people of Insomnia huh?” He whirled around to face the man who wouldn’t stop talking. “Because only the people of Insomni-“ Lib cut himself off when he saw the face of the man who was sitting next to him. Cor Leonis, the immortal, marshal of the crownsguard, was drinking beer in a rundown bar in a less than savory part of Insomnia and smirking into his glass like he had heard the funniest joke in the world. Lib snarled. “Why the hell do you care? Are you tryin’ to convince me that the treaty is a _good_ idea?!”

Cor shrugged and set down his glass. “No, but I _do_ have the ear of the king, so if you have any concerns, I can pass them to him directly.” The older man looked directly at Lib, the smirk suddenly gone. “I take it you have some.”

“Pass them to him directly? Well then tell him to reject the fucking deal!” The bartender gave him a disapproving glance at the way his voice reverberated in the small bar. Lib didn’t look back at him though, too engrossed in his rage to care. “You Insomnians think that Lucis is only as big as your astrals damned walls. Well guess what? It’s _bigger_ than that, and if you think people are gonna be happy to be handed to the Nifs so fucking _Insomnia_ is safe, you assholes have another thing coming.”

Lib stood and strode menacingly towards Cor, his hands curled into fists and raised as if to throw a punch. “I can’t believe you think that the terms of this peace treaty make for a good deal-“

“-I will have no fighting in this bar,” the bartender spoke up suddenly and he turned to face the man. “If you’re so intent on starting a barfight I’m gonna have to ask you to get the hell out.” The man turned towards Cor and gave him an apologetic look. “Marshal, I’m sorry, I’m sure you didn’t come here to get yelled at-“

Cor held up his hand as a signal for the bartender to shut up. “It’s fine, I wouldn’t have minded if he landed a punch on me either, it would have probably done him some good to relieve the tension.” Lib raised an eyebrow and gave Cor a disbelieving stare. Was that what the marshal thought was going on? Tension relief? “I didn’t mean to cause any trouble,” Cor continued as he looked directly at Lib. “I was just curious what you felt about it, and, for what it’s worth, I agree.”

“Huh?” Lib felt his anger fade only to be replaced by confusion. The marshal agreed with him?

Cor didn’t clarify and drained the rest of his beer before placing some money on the bar to cover the cost. “I’ll pass your comments onto the king-“ The marshal continued to speak when Lib protested that’s not what he wanted. “-you have done much for the country, Libertus. I will see to it that Lucis will not turn its back on you so long as you continue to defend it.” Cor inclined his head in farewell before he rose from the stool and walked towards the exit. “Take care now.”

“Tell the king to reject the terms,” he shouted at Cor’s back when the man left.

It wasn’t until after Cor had left that Lib realized he had called him by his name. His eyebrows furrowed as he tried to remember if he had ever introduced himself to the marshal before.

…

Cor came to a stop by a signpost before he pulled out his cell phone and dialed a familiar number. The dial tone rang for a number of moments before someone picked up on the other end. “Hey there Regis, it’s Cor.” He leaned against the sign post. “I just got back from talking to Libertus.”

A wry grin spread across his face as he listened to his old friend (and now king) ramble on in his ear for a solid minute before finally giving him a chance to speak. “Oh, he thinks it’s a bad deal and wants you to reject it, you know how it is.” A low sigh could be heard over the tinny speakers on the phone. He just managed to hide a chuckle. “But you know, I had an idea.” He paused to let Regis respond. “You know how Niflheim unilaterally set the terms of the peace deal?” His grin grew wider. “How about we unilaterally change it up a bit?”

…

Lib got the call around mid-morning. Crowe had just been sent off on her secret mission to retrieve the princess, and Nyx was off on honor guard duty. He grunted when he spotted the unfamiliar number but answered it with a shrug. If it was some telemarketer, he could always tell them to fuck off. “Ostium.”

“Libertus,” a gruff voice that was faintly familiar replied. “I have some bad news for you.”

“Yeah?” He squinted at the clock across the wall. “About what?”

“It’s your friend Crowe.” He felt his blood freeze in his veins. “She’s in serious danger, I’ll send you the coordi-“

Lib didn’t even let the voice finish before he rushed towards the garage where his bike was sitting. “On my way!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... and things start to get ... interesting.


	3. Crowe

Lib got the call around mid-morning. Crowe had just been sent off on her secret mission to retrieve the princess, and Nyx was off on honor guard duty. He grunted when he spotted the unfamiliar number but answered it with a shrug. If it was some telemarketer, he could always tell them to fuck off. “Ostium.”

“Libertus,” a gruff voice that was faintly familiar replied. “I have some bad news for you.”

“Yeah?” He squinted at the clock across the wall. “About what?”

“It’s your friend Crowe.” He felt his blood freeze in his veins. “She’s in serious danger, I’ll send you the coordi-“

Lib didn’t even let the voice finish before he rushed towards the garage where his bike was sitting. “On my way!”

…

When the back of the van was finally opened, and she was let out with her bike, Crowe Altius took a deep breath of the crisp Leide air. It was different from the air in Insomnia. Drier, warmer, and without the usual tinge of smoke and people that tinged the air of the crown city. It was nice out here in Leide, different. If she had the time, she would spend her hours doing nothing but enjoying the warm air of Leide. Unfortunately, she had an escort mission to do and so could not enjoy the environs.

She sighed and grabbed onto the helmet that hung off the handlebars of her bike. Standard escort missions weren’t the most exciting of missions, hence the name. But the princess was a high value target, and it was an honor to be chosen to escort her safely to Insomnia (supposedly).

The glint of sunlight off of something metallic in the distance caught her attention. Crowe paused in the middle of putting her helmet on to look in that direction. A wry grin crossed her face when she caught sight of the van that crept along the side street she hadn’t noticed towards the intersection just a few hundred feet away.  She stared at it with a baffled look on her face. It was strange to see a van just waiting there almost. There was nothing where she had been dropped off. Just an old bus stop that had clearly seen better days and had clearly been abandoned.

Not that she expected it to be still in use. The next closest town, if a collection of a few shops and a garage could be considered a town, was a couple of miles away. And out beyond the wall? No one lived away from the towns and outposts if they could help it. With the daemons and beasts that roamed the lands, it was just too dangerous to even consider doing so.

Crowe continued to stare at the van. It was strange to see signs of life out here, but perhaps she shouldn’t be too surprised. Maybe they were headed somewhere else and waiting to make sure there were no other cars on the road? There was another glint, and she chuckled a bit when she noticed it was from a charm of some kind hanging inside the vehicle. She squinted as the van came to a stop at the intersection. The charm looked kind of familiar actually, like a cartoon figure she had seen around in Insomnia. Funny to find it outside of the crown city but- “Crowe!”

She whipped her head around at the familiar voice and the roar of a motorcycle tore up the road. Her eyes widened when she saw it was exactly who she had thought it might be. “Lib,” she called out incredulously, her helmet nearly slipping from her fingers. “What are you doing here?”

Instead of answering her question, Crowe leaned back when she saw the familiar gesture of a dagger being thrown at her. She didn’t get the chance to scream at her friend when Lib warped right at her and threw her off her bike. “What the hell are you doing Lib,” she screamed at her friend when the two of them hit the ground with a thud. She grit her teeth as she heard the gravel crunch beneath their weight. Lucky her having her jacket on.

“Saving your life,” Lib snapped back.

“From what?”

“That!”

Crowe barely had time to react when a kukri was thrown at them that Lib managed to catch just in the nick of time. “Crowe?”

“Yes,” she asked as she rolled into a crouch. The van now speeding towards them.

“Now would be a good time to use your magic,” he said through gritted teeth as he threw himself at the van with a roar.

She rolled her eyes and muttered something about impulsive men (and how the heck was Lib moving around like that when his leg was broken) as she began to form a fireball between her hands. The second she saw someone stick their head out of the window of the van she lobbed it at them. Lib whirled around to face her when it missed his hair by inches. “Sorry,” she said in a deceptively sweet voice. “Should have ducked.”

“Crowe,” Lib roared. “Watch where you’re throwing those.” She yelped when she saw another kukri get aimed for Lib’s head. Luckily, the other glaive managed to bat it away in the nick of time. Whoever was behind the wheel was still gunning the van straight for them and she gritted her teeth as she warped for a point just to the side of the vehicle, a plan forming in her head. If she knew her vans, there should be- yep there it was. She grinned mischievously as she aimed a dagger straight for the fuel tank and formed another fire ball in her hand. “Lib! Duck!”

Fortunately for him, Lib managed to scramble out of the way as she threw the fireball right at the tank, causing the van to go up in flames.

“Now will you explain to me what the hell is going on,” she asked through gritted teeth as Lib limped his way towards her with a grimace.

There was a sheepish look on his face. “Um, the marshal might have warned me that you were in danger.”

“The marshal?” Lib grimaced and limped his way towards his bike. “Cor Leonis?! How the fuck did Cor Leonis of all fucking people know there was going to be an attack.” Crowe walked her bike towards Lib when the man didn’t reply. “How did he even get that intel in the first place? Shouldn’t the captain have heard about it first? And on a standard escort mission?”

Lib only gave her a grunt as he got on his bike and waited for her to catch up. She scowled. “Where do you think _you’re_ headed anyway?”

“Back.” Lib glanced towards her. “We should both be headed back, anyway.” When it looked like Crowe was going to argue with him, he quickly added, “come on the princess got to Insomnia safely already, it seems.”

“And how in the Astrals’ name do you know that?” Lib gave her another sheepish look. Internally, she was fuming as they both sped off toward the crown city. “Fine, but you’re going to have to explain to me how the marshal knows all this.”

“I’ll tell you as soon as I figure it out,” Lib replied dryly.


End file.
